יהודה Judah was the son of Jacob and Leah. He was the younger brother of Rehuven, Shimon, Levi and the older brother of Yesachar and Zebulon. His mother Leah was the one who named him Judah becuase she was thanking God that she had another child. The story of Judah and Tamar is told in Genesis 38, directly after Judah and his brothers sell Joseph into slavery (Gen. 37) and before the history of Joseph in Egypt (Ch. 39). The story begins with the statement that about that time, Judah went down from his brothers and camped near a certain Adullamite whose name was Hirah (38:1). We are not told why he left his family at just this time. Judah had three sons: Er, [[#|Onan]], and Shelah. The last son was been born in a place called Ke’ziv (38:5), which can mean "deceitful or disappoint," and be taken as a sign of things to come. Er,1 the oldest son marries Tamar is killed by God for some undefined offense. [[#|Onan]], the second son, then marries Tamar, which accords with the later Jewish [[#|law on]] Levirate marriage; that it is his duty to marry his brother’s childless widow and beget a son to carry on the brother's line. But [[#|Onan]] "spilled his seed on the ground" whenever he cohabited with Tamar, to avoid providing offspring for his brother (38:9).2 This was a deliberate dereliction of familial duty, for which he is punished by death. If Tamar understood why [[#|Onan]] was struck dead, and perhaps also the reason for the death of Er, she did not reveal anything to Judah. Thus, she allows him to think that the deaths of his sons might have been through some fault of hers rather than faults of their own. The duty of marrying Tamar should then devolve on Shelah, the third and last son, but Judah fears the connection between marriage to Tamar and the deaths of his two sons. Therefore, he tells her that Shelah is too young for marriage, and she must wait until he is mature. In the meantime, she is to return to her father's house and dwell there. He instructs her to live as a widow (38:11). The word in Hebrew ‘shav’ may also mean stay as well as return. Since as will see Judah condemns her to death she apparently stayed under Judah’s control and not under her Father’s. She unlike widows in their Father’s home was not free to marry again and have children, for she is bound to Shelah. A long time went by, and Judah still did not send Shelah to marry Tamar, even after he had grown to manhood (38:12,14). It may have seemed to Tamar that Judah that did not intend to fulfill his obligation to provide her with a husband of his line, and give her a chance to bear the grandchildren who would continue his line. Did Tamar accept the prospect of remaining a barren woman in a patriarchal society? She did not! She takes active control of her destiny. When she heard that Judah and his friend Hirah the Adullamite were going to Timnah for the sheepshearing, she changed out of her widow's garb and, with her face covered by a veil, sat by the road to Timnah waiting for Judah to pass by in a place called ‘petach enaim’ which can mean ‘opening of the eyes’. As she intended, he took her for a harlot. And since he was now a widower, who had recently completed the period of mourning for his wife (38:12), he may have been all the more susceptible to the lure of this strange (Ha’Kadasha – 38:21) woman. Judah offered to pay a fee of one kid from his flocks. (The blood of a kid had been used by Judah and his brothers to stain Joseph's garment and deceive their father.) He also agreed to her demand that as collateral he leave with her his signet-seal and his cord and staff. Gunn and Fewell note the wordplays in the Hebrew text here: "hotam [signet-seal]" resembles "hatan [father-in-law, bridegroom]", "petil [cord}" resembles "peti [simpleton]" and "matteh [staff]," that in many languages a sexual euphemism.4 Judah later sent his friend Hirah to deliver the kid and redeem the signet-seal, cord and staff, but the woman had disappeared. After three months, it is noticed that Tamar is pregnant. Judah himself then condemns her to death for harlotry. Tamar, being led forth to her execution, sent a message to her father-in-law: 'I am with child by the man to whom these belong. . . . Examine these: Whose seal and cord and staff are these?' (38:25). (Her words here could recall to Judah the words of the brothers to Jacob: 'Please examine it; is this your son's tunic or not?' (37:32). By putting her challenge in the form a question, she refrains from publicly revealing that he himself is the father and so protects his honor. Judah with great courage states: 'She has been more right than I, since I did not give her my son Shelah’ (38:26).5 In recognizing and admitting that he had been unjust, is he reminded of the injustice he and his brothers had done to Joseph and to Jacob? This time, he makes amends. He saves Tamar and he marries her. But the text tells us that Judah did not know her again (38:26); that is, he never had connubial relations with her. According to the later laws of Leviticus (18:6,15) that relationship would have been incestuous. Tamar had made him take responsibility for his sons, and in the future he was to go on to taking responsibility for his brothers. The Banner of the tribe of Judah was the head of a lion; Jacob because Judah's father blessed his tribe to be like a lion. Your thoughts: (2 pts) Did you like using the wiki? Yes I like it, I do not mind using wiki. Why or why not? It motivates me to do a better job. Would you have preferred a regular worksheet? Yes, yet I would do this once in a while.
Judah was the son of Jacob and Leah. He was the younger brother of Rehuven, Shimon, Levi and the older brother of Yesachar and Zebulon.
His mother Leah was the one who named him Judah becuase she was thanking God that she had another child.
The story of Judah and Tamar is told in Genesis 38, directly after Judah and his brothers sell Joseph into slavery (Gen. 37) and before the history of Joseph in Egypt (Ch. 39). The story begins with the statement that about that time, Judah went down from his brothers and camped near a certain Adullamite whose name was Hirah (38:1). We are not told why he left his family at just this time.
Judah had three sons: Er, [[#|Onan]], and Shelah. The last son was been born in a place called Ke’ziv (38:5), which can mean "deceitful or disappoint," and be taken as a sign of things to come. Er,1 the oldest son marries Tamar is killed by God for some undefined offense. [[#|Onan]], the second son, then marries Tamar, which accords with the later Jewish [[#|law on]] Levirate marriage; that it is his duty to marry his brother’s childless widow and beget a son to carry on the brother's line. But [[#|Onan]] "spilled his seed on the ground" whenever he cohabited with Tamar, to avoid providing offspring for his brother (38:9).2
This was a deliberate dereliction of familial duty, for which he is punished by death. If Tamar understood why [[#|Onan]] was struck dead, and perhaps also the reason for the death of Er, she did not reveal anything to Judah. Thus, she allows him to think that the deaths of his sons might have been through some fault of hers rather than faults of their own. The duty of marrying Tamar should then devolve on Shelah, the third and last son, but Judah fears the connection between marriage to Tamar and the deaths of his two sons. Therefore, he tells her that Shelah is too young for marriage, and she must wait until he is mature. In the meantime, she is to return to her father's house and dwell there. He instructs her to live as a widow (38:11). The word in Hebrew ‘shav’ may also mean stay as well as return. Since as will see Judah condemns her to death she apparently stayed under Judah’s control and not under her Father’s. She unlike widows in their Father’s home was not free to marry again and have children, for she is bound to Shelah. A long time went by, and Judah still did not send Shelah to marry Tamar, even after he had grown to manhood (38:12,14). It may have seemed to Tamar that Judah that did not intend to fulfill his obligation to provide her with a husband of his line, and give her a chance to bear the grandchildren who would continue his line. Did Tamar accept the prospect of remaining a barren woman in a patriarchal society? She did not! She takes active control of her destiny. When she heard that Judah and his friend Hirah the Adullamite were going to Timnah for the sheepshearing, she changed out of her widow's garb and, with her face covered by a veil, sat by the road to Timnah waiting for Judah to pass by in a place called ‘petach enaim’ which can mean ‘opening of the eyes’. As she intended, he took her for a harlot. And since he was now a widower, who had recently completed the period of mourning for his wife (38:12), he may have been all the more susceptible to the lure of this strange (Ha’Kadasha – 38:21) woman. Judah offered to pay a fee of one kid from his flocks. (The blood of a kid had been used by Judah and his brothers to stain Joseph's garment and deceive their father.) He also agreed to her demand that as collateral he leave with her his signet-seal and his cord and staff. Gunn and Fewell note the wordplays in the Hebrew text here: "hotam [signet-seal]" resembles "hatan [father-in-law, bridegroom]", "petil [cord}" resembles "peti [simpleton]" and "matteh [staff]," that in many languages a sexual euphemism.4 Judah later sent his friend Hirah to deliver the kid and redeem the signet-seal, cord and staff, but the woman had disappeared. After three months, it is noticed that Tamar is pregnant. Judah himself then condemns her to death for harlotry. Tamar, being led forth to her execution, sent a message to her father-in-law: 'I am with child by the man to whom these belong. . . . Examine these: Whose seal and cord and staff are these?' (38:25). (Her words here could recall to Judah the words of the brothers to Jacob: 'Please examine it; is this your son's tunic or not?' (37:32). By putting her challenge in the form a question, she refrains from publicly revealing that he himself is the father and so protects his honor. Judah with great courage states: 'She has been more right than I, since I did not give her my son Shelah’ (38:26).5 In recognizing and admitting that he had been unjust, is he reminded of the injustice he and his brothers had done to Joseph and to Jacob? This time, he makes amends. He saves Tamar and he marries her. But the text tells us that Judah did not know her again (38:26); that is, he never had connubial relations with her. According to the later laws of Leviticus (18:6,15) that relationship would have been incestuous. Tamar had made him take responsibility for his sons, and in the future he was to go on to taking responsibility for his brothers.
The Banner of the tribe of Judah was the head of a lion; Jacob because Judah's father blessed his tribe to be like a lion.
Your thoughts: (2 pts)
Did you like using the wiki? Yes I like it, I do not mind using wiki.
Why or why not? It motivates me to do a better job.
Would you have preferred a regular worksheet? Yes, yet I would do this once in a while.